The picture, which remained on 'Facebook' for two days, showed 11 militants, who recently joined the banned Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit.

It has disappeared from the social networking site but the move has sent alarm bells ringing in the security establishment in Jammu and Kashmir, including Army and Central security agencies, since the annual Amarnath pilgrimage began on Tuesday.

The Central security agencies have sought details from the social networking site about the Internet Protocol addresses from where the photos were uplinked and then deleted, official sources said.

Those in the photograph include ex-constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police Naseer, who ran away with two AK-47 rifles while on guard duty with Altaf Bukhari, a Minister in the Mufti Sayeed-headed PDP-BJP government, and Burhan Wani, a resident of Tral, who has emerged as the young face of Hizbul Mujahideen in the Valley.

The location where the picture was shot seemed to be somewhere in orchards of Shopian or Pulwama in South Kashmir, which has become a fertile ground for recruitment of youths into various militant outfits.

It is however, still rare for militants to upload their photograps on social networking sites lest it should facilitate swift action against them by the law enforcement agencies.